Recent Articles – Page 61 – Old Magazine Articles

Munchkin Gossip
(Stage Magazine, 1939)

From the Hot From Hollywood page in STAGE MAGAZINE came this tidbit reporting on the curious events taking place on the sets of ‘The Wizard of Oz’:

The cast was extraordinary, from the stars Frank Morgan, Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley to Toto, the Carin Terrier. But of them all, the most utterly enchanting were the midgets, two hundred and twenty-five of them, with their doll faces, their plastered hair that looked as though it had been painted on their heads, the little felt flowers that grew out of their shoes, the bells that jingled from their sleeves. They, of course, were in costume for the good little Munchkins.

Another article about this incredible film can be read here…

Surfing: The New Thing
(Click Magazine, 1941)

When you examine the 14 images in the attached article about California surfing in the Forties you’re quite likely to come away believing that the stale surfing comedy Beach Blanket Bingo was actually intended to be an anthropological documentary depicting a long lost Anglo-Saxon culture. Minus the bikinis, Frankie and Annette the pictures seem like production stills from the MGM archive; long boards do indeed rule, silly hats are evident and you might be surprised to see that bongo-drums were indeed pounded at the prerequisite evening bonfire, as well.

The Interior Design of the Hindenburg’
(Creative Art Magazine, 1937)

This article from a 1937 issue of The Magazine of Art addressed the over-all aesthetic appeal of the Hindenburg’ . Written by Blanche Naylor, no stranger to all matters involving industrial design of the Thirties and Forties, the article goes into some detail as to the color scheme, upholstery, paintings and the names of the assorted German designers responsible for the beauty of the air-ship. The article is accompanied by seven photographs and one diagram of the public rooms accessible to the Hindenburg’ passenger’s.

The Forgotten Child
(Literary Digest, 1935)

This magazine article from 1935 documented the Federal aid that was made available for America’s poorest children. The malnutrition visited upon the boys of America’s indigent would render some of them unfit for military service in World War II.

With nearly one-sixth of the nation’s child population in families dependent upon emergency relief, welfare agencies call for a solution of their grave problem.

The problem was laid before the recent National Conference on the 1935 Needs of Children held under the auspices of The Parent’s Magazine in New York City. Before them Katherine F. Lenroot, Chief of the United States Children’s Bureau, made one of her first public appearances since taking office:

…These children have a right to expect that Federal, State, and community relief policies of 1935 will provide more adequately for essential items in the family budget.

Another article about children of the Great Depression can be read here…

McCarthy and the 1952 Presidential Election
(Quick Magazine, 1952)

A small notice from the closing weeks of the 1952 presidential contest between retired General Eisenhower (R) vs former Governor Adlai Stevenson (D) in which Senator Joseph McCarthy stepped forth to muddy the waters with one of his characteristic insults:

McCarthy charged Stevenson was ‘part and parcel of the Acheson-Hiss-Lattimore group’ and that Stevenson in 1943 (as a State Department official) had a plan to ‘foist Communism’ on Italy when Mussolini fell.

Whether the comment convinced anyone was not recorded, but Eisenhower won the 1952 election by a wide margin, as did all Republican candidates.

Escape from East Berlin
(Pageant Magazine, 1967)

Lenin went to his grave believing that he had established a nation where a worker’s labor would be fairly compensated – a land free from want; but this was not the case. The Soviet Union, and all its assorted satellites, was in actuality, a police state where people longed to get away from all the free stuff that was offered – thousands of people successfully escaped while many others died trying. The country he created was one in which the word escape was frequently uttered – which brings us to this article – it concerns cars and how they were able to be refashioned in such a way as to conceal the East Germans who wished so badly to get away to the West – and it is very well illustrated.

Can You Spot a Red?
(People Today Magazine, 1950)

The President has asked all Americans to keep their eyes open for spies and subversives and to report them to the FBI. Who would you start looking for?

A 1940s Tour of Manhattan
(Click Magazine, 1940)

A black and white photo-essay of a New York that is gone with the wind, written in that wonderfully irreverent slang-heavy patois so reminiscent of the movies of that era. We posted this piece to please that New York archivist in all of you: you will see images of the watering holes preferred by the high and the low, the museums, Fifth Ave., Harlem, and the Fulton Fish Market.

Click here to see another 1930s photo-essay…

The Women of Reginald Marsh
(’47 Magazine)

Against the backdrop of a metropolis, a painter finds exultation in the vigorous beauty of the common girl.

The New Objectivity
(Current Opinion, 1919)

A review of the paintings and sculptures from the Weimer Republic and the manner in which that new art served to reflect the social upheaval that was taking place in Germany at that time. The article concerns itself primarily with one art exhibit in particular, the Spring Exhibition of the Berlin Secession (1919) and the two art factions who participated: there were the artists of Der Sturm a movement that existed prior to the war and a newer, post-war tribe; the November Group. Also displayed were the works of two painters who served in the Kaiser’s army and did not return; Franz Marc (1880-1916) and August Macke (1887-1914).

It is hoped by the German Expressionists and the artists of the New Objectivity that their art will serve as a tool for the destruction of Germany’s old order.

Click here to see a few trench war images by German Expressionist Otto Dix.

Click here to read about Expressionist woodcuts.

The New Objectivity held up a mirror to the political crises that was playing out all over Germany, click here to read about it…

French Insecurity in the Face of German Might
(Literary Digest, 1913)

Attached is a 1913 article from an American magazine in which the journalist reported on a strong sense of insecurity experienced by France as a result of Imperial German military hubris. The reporter illustrated the point with various quotes from French papers of the day and in a similar vein, sites a number of German papers that express an arrogant contempt for France.

Mother of the American Soap Opera
(The American Magazine, 1943)

Here is a short profile of Irna Phillips (1901 – 1973) – she was, more than anyone else, the one who can be credited with the creation of the daytime dramas called soap operas on both radio and television.

Brooks Brothers & Christmas 1917

During America’s short and costly participation in the First World War, a prominent New York clothing establishment, Brooks Brothers, did swift business making custom uniforms for both the Army and Navy.

As the following attachment will show, they also offered forty other items that were of use to both the officers as well as the ranks.

Click here to see a Vanity Fair editorial about Christmas gifts for Doughboys.

Christmas Shopping for the Doughboys
(Vogue, 1918)

These three pages were from the last of the two wartime Christmas issues American Vogue had managed to produce prior to the Armistice. Featured are some fashionable accessory items sold on New York’s Fifth Avenue that the Vogue editors deemed suitable for industrial warfare.

Click here to read about the Sam Brown Belt.

‘Merry Christmas, Major X”
(Der Welt Spiegel, 1914)

Written a few months after the war began, this German short story was written about a particular front line rifle company and the contempt that they shared for one of their officers. Its a good read.

Dogs as a Source of Food
(Literary Digest, 1897)

This article originally appeared in a French magazine and it lists numerous cultures, both ancient and modern, that eat dogs regularly:

We do not know the edible dog or the edible cat, in France, and probably since the siege they have been little served (openly at least) on the tables of Paris restaurants. At Peking, and throughout China, there is no dainty repast without its filet or leg of dog; the cat is rather a dish of the poorer classes.

A Languorous Home Front
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

At long last the impact of of total war had bruised the American consciousness. Despite the initial success of General MacArthur’s victory on Luzon and the Russians on the Eastern front, the first three weeks of 1945 had brought the nation face to face with the realities ahead as at no time since Pearl Harbor. No single factor could this metamorphosis be attributed, but it was plain that the stark lists of causalities and the growing hardships at home had contributed to it.

Christians 2: Buddhists 1′
(Literary Digest, 1921)

In 1921 a Kyoto Bible school was challenged by a neighboring Buddhist temple. The confrontation did not involve the finer points of theology (not openly, anyway) but which of the two tribes was superior at baseball. It was a Hell of a game.

The uncredited foreign correspondent made it known within the opening paragraphs that the Kyoto Buddhists were irked by the spread of Christianity in that region of Japan and chose to deploy any means at their disposal to gain some sort of advantage.

Twenty-one years later a Japanese team would play an American team. Read about that game here…